Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 187,195 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 582,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 187,195 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $136,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $239.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $251.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.19 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $68.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.